The Library at Willesden Green

Located at the intersection of the High Road and Brondesbury Park, Willesden Green Cultural Centre acts as a local landmark and cultural cornerstone for the London Borough of Brent. The scheme incorporates a much-loved Victorian library building and retained London Plane tree at the northern corner of the site. Behind, a glazed entry lobby and public gallery links the retained building (revitalised as a public sitting room) to two new rectilinear ‘wings’ running along Brondesbury Park and Grange Road respectively. These wings are completed by a south-facing performance space connected to a new pedestrian plaza that will host a variety of outdoor events. At the centre of the new building is a four-storey internal atrium, providing natural daylight and ventilation through operable glazed rooflights. Outside, the main three-storey elevations are expressed as horizontal bands animated by openings and polychromatic brickwork, the colours and patterns of which are derived from the Victorian buildings within the Willesden Green High Road Conservation Area. Once complete in spring 2015, the Cultural Centre will accommodate a library, café, customer services, training, arts and function spaces, as well as the Brent Archive and Brent Museum.